


VERIDIAN

by Nikith



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Aged-Up Character(s), Battle of Hogwarts, Character Death, Eventual Smut, Eventually Good Draco Malfoy, Explicit Sexual Content, F/M, Hogwarts, Horcrux Hunting, Loss of Virginity, Not Canon Compliant, Ron Weasley Semi-Slander
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-02-06
Updated: 2021-03-11
Packaged: 2021-03-18 13:47:28
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 4
Words: 16,834
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29244549
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Nikith/pseuds/Nikith
Summary: "That’s exactly the problem! You don’t care if you get hurt, you don’t care if you die. Sure, be my guest,” Draco spat at her, tears pooling up in his eyes, “But do you even care about me, then? Has it ever crossed your brilliant mind how I would feel if you got hurt? Or worse - killed?”Hogwarts experience for Amelia Wood turned out to be completely different than she thought.
Relationships: Draco Malfoy/Original Female Character(s)
Kudos: 2





	1. INTRODUCTION

> _  
> "That’s exactly the problem! You don’t care if you get hurt, you don’t care if you die. Sure, be my guest,” Draco spat at her, tears pooling up in his eyes, “But do you even care about me, then? Has it ever crossed your brilliant mind how I would feel if you got hurt? Or worse - killed?”_

**Hogwarts experience for Amelia Wood turned out to be completely different than she thought.**

Author’s Note: The characters in this story are not mine: they belong to JK Rowling. I only claim ownership of my original characters peppered through the story This story diverges from canon throughout - events happen differently, at different times, with other characters involved etc.

English is not my native language. Errors, odd phrasing etc. may and - let’s be honest - will appear. Always learning.

There will be more adult charged parts. Reader’s discretion would be advised.


	2. Chapter One

Amelia dragged her feet as she followed Oliver through the crowd towards the stadium. The campsite alone was massive, crowded and way too loud for her liking. She was not sure why she was there in the first place.

They were weaving their way through the crowded camp’s site. They still had over an hour before the match started, but already there were people singing and dancing, they even passed what seemed to be a circus performance. Amelia hadn’t seen a lot of wizarding events, so it still was out of the realm of normal or possible for her.

But on the other hand, Quidditch never interested her, even though she saw every Gryffindor or Slytherin game in Hogwarts. So, when Oliver got tickets via some friends and was determined to make it their bonding time - she was not happy with him. Amelia appreciated the thought, but they could as well as bond in Hogsmeade over butterbeer.

This sounded like a weekend straight out of a horror movie.

"I still do not understand why I am here," Amelia complained to Oliver leaning against a pillar at the Quidditch stadium, when they finally came to halt.

On top of all the people, crowds, loud noise, and her general dislike of Quidditch - something about that night did not feel right. But she could not place what. Not a single fibre of her being wished to be there. Everything about that place was making her hair stand up.

"Come on, we haven't hung out properly in ages," Oliver nudges her, "We won't be here alone if that's what you are worried about. You won't be stuck with only your lame brother."

"That's not what I meant, and you know it. I- I just hate Quidditch," Amelia glanced at him.

"I am sure you will have fun," Oliver rolled his eyes at her never-ending moaning. Amelia folded her hands over her chest, raising a brow at him. She seriously doubted his statement, "Look, I told you! Your friends are here," he continued, pointing to the stairs. Amelia turned and saw no one else but the Weasley's along with Harry and Hermione.

"You've just made this shitty weekend a bit better!" Amelia exclaimed as she threw herself around George and Fred's necks since they stood the closest to her. The twins huffed and stumbled backwards slightly, but each gladly wrapped one hand around her, returning the hug.

Oliver rolled his eyes behind her back. _So much for gratitude_ , he thought as he slowly walked over to greet the twins as well as the rest.

"Oh look, the classless are here too," familiar voice to Amelia sneered from behind her just as she hugged Hermione, "Thought better of you, Wood," he muttered with a smirk, scanning her with his eyes. Both, Amelia and Oliver, turned in his direction. Amelia was caught by surprise.

He changed since she last saw him at King's Cross after the term ended. The barely month and half did wonders.

From a scared little boy that ran for his life after Hermione punched him (something that still brought joy to her heart, she will never stop regretting not witnessing it) to a stone cold, almost regal-looking... demi-god. She cringed at her choice of words, but she couldn't find any better ones to describe him.

_Demi-god? He's an arse, you dimwit..._

He got taller as well, she realized as she looked up at him.

"Well, you surely did not disappoint... Annoying brat as always," she chuckled back at him, finally shaking off the initial shock. Draco smirked, clearly satisfied with getting a raise out of her, "Let's get out of here, guys," she turned to the group, but Draco grabbed her shoulder. Amelia noticed, Ron and George stopping Harry probably from doing something stupid.

In the back of her mind, she found Harry’s reaction to Draco touching her really sweet. She wondered if their interactions make him twitch like this even when in Hogwarts. Right now, she could not recall a single moment when Harry was present to their conversation. If she could say she ever even had a conversation with Draco.

"Join me," he said simply as her head snapped towards him. His eyes didn't leave her the whole time. It was unnerving.

Amelia turned back to him with a cocked brow, "Join you? What is this? Bully club recruitment?" She smirked, eyeing the blondie.

He retracted his hand from her shoulder at once. Whatever softness there was behind Malfoy's eyes just seconds earlier, it was gone now, looking colder and even more uninviting. His jaw hardened as he clenched it, holding back his words. Amelia regretted her choice of words for a second, but she soon remembered he said worse things to her and her friends over the years. Her sarcasm felt justified.

"Your call," he squeezed the words out, barely moving his lips, "Father and I will be at the minister's booth. On personal invitation of..."

"Don't boast, Draco!" Malfoy swooped in, smacking Draco across his chest with the staff. He winced as he jumped back, "It is unnecessary," he hissed as he carefully looked at everyone's face. Until his eyes landed on Amelia, who was looking at him defiantly. No wonder Draco turned out the way he did if this is his father. Draco rubbed his chest sheepishly, not taking his eyes off of Amelia.

"Let's go, kids, we have to get to our seats before the match starts!" said Mr Weasley, clearly uncomfortable with the situation at hand, after clearing his throat, and started to climb the stairs up. Harry grabbed Amelia's hand, pulling her with him.

"Dad? How high even are we?" Ron asked grabbing onto the railing next to the steep stairs as he followed Mr Weasley.

Draco's father snickered at the bottom of the stairs, offering his take, "Let's say that if it starts to rain, you'll be the first to know."

Amelia turned back around to say something, but Fred gently pushed her up the stairs, whispering, "They are not worth it."

If anyone asked her what happened during the match, Amelia would not be able to say. There was flying, way too many balls (if it was up to her, she would cut the number of balls involved to half), some players down thanks to Bludgers and a Snitch caught way too early, as far as she was concerned. Krum caught it and yet Bulgaria did not win - that left her with so many questions. Despite seeing numerous matches during the past 3 years, she still has no clue. Fred and George tried to explain things as the match went on but did not have much success.

But finally, they were back in their tent, Mr Weasley offered she could stay with them so Amelia could be with her friends, whereas Oliver left the grounds shortly after the match. Amelia always found it odd that despite spending years on a team with the twins and then Harry, they never became closer friends. But then she is his sister, and they are not close either so it's probably just the Oliver thing. Maybe it was their age difference. After there is 5 years between them so by the point she was big enough to really build relationship with Oliver, he was leaving to Hogwarts.

She did not blame him; Amelia knew she was doing the same thing here and there - pushing people away. She tried her best not to, but sometimes she could not help it or did not realize it. It's a Wood thing then, she assumed.

Spending time with the Weasley's always made her a little bit jealous of how close they are to each other. The siblings bicker and tease each other, sometimes go weeks without speaking - especially with Percy; but they'd still run into a burning building for each other and Harry. He really became part of their family.

"What's on your mind?" Fred squatted in front of her, leaning against her knees to stabilize himself. Amelia blinked a few times before her eyes focused on Fred. His Irish face paint was almost all off, there were only a few random splotches of white and green scattered around his face.

Amelia shook her head, "Not much, just zoned out," she pressed a smile. Fred's head tilted slightly to the side; he did not believe her.

Since the first time meeting Fred, she never knew what to say to him. She always clammed up in a similar way as Ginny did around Harry, for whatever reason he flustered her by purely existing. He was, thank Merlin, blissfully unaware or very good at hiding it from her.

"C'mon then, get up," Fred nudged her as he stood up. Amelia glanced up at him with a furrowed brow, "Let me cheer you up. On your feet. Go on. Nobody puts Baby in the corner."

Amelia laughed, taking his offered hand, and got up, "Please never quote muggle movies to me ever again."

Fred shrugged, twirling her around, Amelia shrieked when he pulled her towards him and jokingly waltzed with her around the room. He was right, however. He really cheered her up. By the time he spun her around again, she was laughing. She tried to twirl him, but their height difference was against it and the attempt only nearly broke her arm.

It took her a moment to realize what song he was over-the-top dramatically humming. The fact there was no music playing inside and that they only heard people sing screaming from the outside made it harder for her to figure out.

" _I've had the time of my life; no, I never felt this way before_ … Who even told you about Dirty Dancing, for Merlin's sake?" she chuckled, as Fred continued humming The Time of My Life.

Then he suddenly stopped, "I forgot how it continues," he frowned.

"It's more than likely that the song just ended," Amelia shook her head laughing, "Thank you, this really made my mood better," she admitted.

"Anytime, Baby," he smirked back. Amelia froze for a second before realizing he continued referencing Dirty Dancing. Who showed that movie to this guy had some serious explaining to do. He looked way too pleased with himself for that knowledge. Ginny gave her a knowing look as she sat back down, and Fred went on annoying Ron.

The twins were currently teasing Ron about his obsession with Krum (which Amelia could add to this list of things she did not understand about Ron), singing a dumb made-up song as Harry joined them pretending to know the words. Hermione sat in the corner of the room reading, from time to time looking up at the boys, shaking her head and getting back to her book. Amelia and Ginny were sitting on the sofa in the middle of the room, enjoying the spectacle. Chiming in here and there with some comment or a jab, but for the most time just talking to each other.

"Hey, uhm, can I ask you something..." Ginny trailed off losing her initial courage.

"Absolutely," Amelia turned to her, tuning out the hollering boys in the background. Ginny nervously fumbled with her hands. The usually fierce witch gulped, nervously looking around, "It's okay, nobody's listening if that worries you."

"How do you function next to Fred?" she spat out suddenly, her eyes darting around the room. Amelia widened her eyes at the younger witch and felt the warmth spread through her face, "I've noticed, yeah..."

Amelia's cheeks were burning now. She thought it was her little secret, but apparently, it was not. Such a cliché to be crushing on your friend's older brother. She shortly questioned if she could call Ron a friend, he often made sure to let her know how much he despises Slytherin, he never made an effort and did not look very pleased when he saw her with Oliver earlier. She banished the thoughts quickly.

She gulped, blinking rapidly, "Oh god- Uhm, I don't know. I think that being around other guys, took the edge off somewhat. So maybe try that so you are more comfortable around Harry? I've also noticed. Everyone di- Well, everyone but Harry... And maybe Ron. They are pretty thick," she shrugged at the end. Ginny giggled.

"Does he like me? I mean, you are friends - did he ever...?" the redhead rubbed the back of her neck awkwardly. She would love to give her the answer she wanted, but Amelia had no clue. She wasn't spending that much time with them to know these things. Moreover, she did not know if Harry would even trust her with information like this. Amelia often questioned the level of their friendship. From time to time a dark thought that they are nice to her only because of Oliver creeps up on her. She will find out this year, Oliver graduated so she will be left to her own devices, not that she spent a lot of time with Oliver to begin with.

"I honestly do not know, we are not that close, Gin. Perhaps Hermione… I can tell you all about Blaise and Theo, but Harry? I really have no idea..."

Ginny shivered at the sound of names of her Slytherin friends, making Amelia laugh, "Sorry, I know you are friends. I just... can't," the younger witch tried to explain herself.

Amelia did not really blame anyone for their reactions to Theo or Blaise, they had them connected with Draco and that's hard to forget. They were good guys, but seeing that through all the dust Draco kicks up could be difficult.

She tried not to interfere with whatever they got up to with Draco, frankly, those two shared enough brain cells not to say or do anything when she was around. Because unlike with Draco, she would have enough nerve to call them out on it.

The celebrations outside were getting wild and loud. No one found anything suspicious about it, but Mr Weasley got slightly restless. As the commotion got seemingly closer to their tent, George finally said, "The Irish seem to be having fun!" With a hint of admiration in his voice for their antics.

Mr Weasley stuck his head out of the tent and when he appeared back inside, his face lacked any colour, his mouth pressed into a thin firm line. 

"That's not the Irish. We need to go. Now!" as he said that the noises in the campsite had become clearer for everyone else's ears as well. What they thought to be singing, were screams. They could hear screams and the sound of people running. Everyone jumped to their feet, putting on the first sweater or jacket they could find before hurrying out of the tent.

Due to the fires burning, Amelia could see whole herds of people running towards the woods. Many of them in their pyjamas. They were fleeing from something that was moving across the field towards them. Amelia could barely make out what she was looking at. It seemed to be a group of people, tightly packed together moving like a small, organized army. She squinted at them. There was no face, only later she realized they were wearing black hoods and what appeared to be a mask.

Amelia's heart was in her throat, she could hear rushing blood in her ears. This could not be happening. She squeezed her eyes closed, hoping that when she opened them again the fiery scene would be gone.

"Fred! George!" Mr Weasley called the twins over as he pushed Ginny towards them. Amelia shook her head, trying to get it together as her eyes focused on Mr Weasley, "Ginny is your responsibility now. I will go help the ministry! The rest of you all get back to the portkey!" he gave out orders before running in the opposite direction.

"Let's go!" Harry grabbed her hand as they took off towards the woods and the portkey. People were running in all directions as tents started to catch on fire all around them and there seemed not to be any agreement on what the best way is to flee. People were bumping into them left and right. Soon a pair of wizards ran through their connected hands, breaking Amelia's grip on Harry and it only took another shoulder slam from the opposite direction to knock her to the ground.

Amelia crawled to the side of the path as she found getting up in the middle of it impossible as others just kept knocking her down. Earning a few kicks on her way. She finally leaned against a tree able to catch her breath without having the wind knocked out of her constantly.

Harry and the others were long gone, she had no idea where the portkey was, and the hooded figures now seemed to be coming from all sides of the campsite. She was quite lost.

"Shouldn't you be hurrying out of here?" a familiar cold voice sounded from behind her. Amelia glared over her shoulder. Draco was standing there casually eating an apple. As one does in similar situations.

"Shut up, Malfoy..." Amelia groaned silently. She can't even have a short moment of self-pity without him appearing out of thin air. My luck, she thinks to herself rolling her eyes.

Draco snickered lightly behind her. He was about to leave when he ran into Potter with Weasley and Granger, overhearing a conversation about losing Amelia and a short argument about how they cannot go back to look for her. Hearing her name in that context felt like a cold hand wrapping itself around his heart, squeezing it slightly. Anxiety grew faster inside of him than his anger towards the trio for just giving up on her. He had to go back and find her.

_“Where is Amelia?” Hermione’s eyes widened as they reached the edge of the wood and she looked back at Harry, “Harry?”_

_Harry leaned against his knees trying to catch a breath, slowly realizing what Hermione already knew. Amelia was nowhere to be seen, “I’ve lost my grip on her hand… I thought she was right behind… I- We have to go back,” he stammered. Hermione gasped._

_“I am not going back,” Ron said decisively over Hermione’s shoulder. She glared back at him – not so much for what he said but for the tone of his voice, “The camp is swarmed with Death Eaters, no way in hell.” He shook his head._

_Harry gaped at him, “That’s exactly why we have to go back, Ron!” Harry’s head was spinning at the lack of concern his best friend was showing just now. Now he was glad that he was still hunched over with hands on his knees. Hermione was staring blankly at him as well, trying to come up with any scenario where his behaviour make sense. But her efforts were coming up empty._

_“Ronald! She’s your friend, how-” Hermione spat at him, but Ron interrupted her with a short scoff._

_“No! She’s YOUR friend-”_

_Draco sneered from behind Harry’s back, “Not very nice of you, Weaselbee.” But he did not look very amused. His lips pressed into a thin line when he wasn’t talking, his eyes jumping in between the trio’s faces. If Harry did not know better, he would have guessed he was mad, “You better flee. Blood traitors are not much higher than Mudbloods.” His eyes landed on Ron, staring at him. Ron gulped, barely looking at him, shifting on his feet uncomfortably._

_Draco turned on his heel and started to walk back towards the camp, “Where are you going?” Harry asked before he could stop himself. He did not particularly care, but he would consider Malfoy a coward first and foremost._

_He glanced back at the trio, “Heard that a pretty girl needs saving,” he shrugged, taking a bite out of an apple._

"That would be valid any day, but not now. Get up, Wood. You don't want to be found here," he said stepping in front of her. Amelia just blankly stared up at him, "I mean it! Get off your ass, time to go," he said more urgently offering a hand to help Amelia to her feet. After a short moment of hesitation, Amelia accepted the extended arm and stood up.

"Thank-" she muttered.

"Where did the rest go?" Draco cut her off impatiently, sounding almost eager to get rid of her. Amelia shrugged, "Do not tell me you lot were just running aimlessly?" he rolled his eyes at her.

"They went to some portkey, but I have no clue where that is..." Amelia admitted, pulling at her sleeves nervously. Draco's presence made her uncomfortable on any day, even more so that night.

Draco groaned loudly, "That's perfect. So now I am your babysitter."

She glared at him as he towered over her but decided to bite her tongue and let it slide. As much as she hated the idea, Amelia needed him right now.

He grabbed her wrist and pulled Amelia with him. Rushing through the dark and now empty campsite Amelia stumbled behind him, trying to keep up with the pace.

"For Merlin's sake!" Draco cursed under his breath as Amelia tripped over one of the tent lines, yanking on his arm as she fell to the ground, "Watch where you are going, will you?" Draco looked around; the silence was getting to him even though he had nothing to be afraid of. No matter what party would find him, he would be fine. But the same cannot be said about the clumsy witch on the ground. He was worried about her.

"If you would stop dragging me around like a child then maybe I would not be falling," she spat back, trying to free her foot that became entangled in one of the tent lines. Draco hovered impatiently, "Not helping..." she muttered in reaction to his huffing and puffing.

Draco heard shuffling in the distance, quickly turning in the direction of the sound. It was too dark for him to see anything. All he could make out was a dark silhouette in what seemed to be a longer coat. He very much disliked knowing they are not alone out here.

"Ugh finally..." Amelia groaned as she finally freed herself of the tangled tent line and tried to get up stepping on a twig. They both jumped as the sound travelled through the eerily empty site. The stranger in the distance now seemed to be facing them.

"Damn it... Can you be any louder?" Draco dropped to the ground and pulled Amelia back down with him. "Shhh," he hissed at her as she was about to protest, clapping his hand over Amelia's mouth.

" _Morsmordre_!"

They watched silently a dark green light shot up into the sky, turning into the foggy shape of a skull with a snake.

"Fuck..." Amelia whispered with her eyes glued to the sky. It felt surreal. 2 hours ago, everything seemed normal, people were cheering, having fun and now she was hiding in an abandoned field looking at a Dark Mark with Malfoy.

The view sent shivers down her spine.

"We might have a bigger problem..." Draco sighed as the stranger started walking towards them, "Your wand, Wood." He started to slowly back away still crouching and Amelia followed. Her heart was beating out of her chest. This got real way too fast for her liking.

Suddenly a group of 3 people runs out from behind the corner on their right side, booking it towards them. Draco's first hunch was to push Amelia behind his back, shielding her as he squinted into the darkness, his wand at the ready, trying to figure out who was running towards them.

"Amelia! Oh, thank Merlin," Harry hollered with audible relief. Draco groaned, annoyed. Amelia at the last second noticed at least 4 or 5 wizards in black suits and various kinds of hats surrounding them, wands aimed at them.

"GET DOWN!" she screamed, pulling on Draco's arm.

He fortunately listened and ducked just in time as several Stupefies clashed just above their heads. The sheer power of that knocked them over completely, throwing Draco on top of her. Draco's arm wrapped around her, instinctively tucking her head into his chest.

"Stop! That's my son! Stop!" Mr Weasley comes running and the showdown of spells ceased.

"Your son is at the scene of a serious crime, Arthur!" a petite wizard in a bowler hat says with a cutting voice. Amelia dared to unscrew one of her eyes. She found herself clutching Malfoy's jacket so tightly that even if he wanted, he wasn't going anywhere, hiding her face in his chest. Groan resonated through Draco's chest upon hearing the man's voice.

"Crime? What crime?" Ron wheezed from the ground as they all slowly picked themselves up. Draco pushed himself off of her with a mouthed _sorry_ , pulling Amelia on her feet. The Ministry official just pointed to the sky, Ron paled with realization, "Oh..."

"We just came looking for Amelia. We got separated earlier... We only got here seconds before you," Harry explained taking several steps to the ministry party as he nodded in Amelia's direction. Their eyes immediately turned to her and Draco as if they just remembered they were there too.

"Which one of you did it?" the bowler hat man pointed his wand at them. Draco rolled his eyes with a loud sigh. His annoyance levels rising with every word of that man. His jaw clenched and his fingers disappeared in tight fists as his knuckles turned white.

"Barty! They are kids!" Mr Weasley protested next to him.

"The mark did not appear on its own, Arthur. Someone here did it and I will get to the bottom of it," he barked back. Another sigh came from Draco. Amelia did not bother to look, but she was willing to bet he made a face as well.

"There was someone over there earlier," Amelia pointed in the general direction of where they came from to hide from whoever it was.

"Who?"

"I don't know, it was dark..." she glanced over at Draco, hoping he would say something. He was the one to notice him after all. She did not expect him to come up with a name, though Amelia would not be surprised if he knew them. Especially considering his father's past.

Finally, Draco decided to talk, "You can check the last casted spells of all of our wands, Crouch, and you will be able to stop throwing accusations around," Amelia looked at him with wide eyes. 

_He did not..._

"Malfoy?" Crouch, Amelia assumed, squinted at them. Mr Weasley's head snapped in their direction, it seemed like he just realized who was standing next to her, "Take their wands then," he muttered to the other ministry officials. 

_Of course, he did and got away with it._

Harry, Ron and Hermione walked over to Amelia and Draco, took this as a sign to leave.

Amelia got pulled aside by Mr Weasley for further questioning, leaving the trio with Draco.

"Look after her better next time. What if I won't be there to save her..." he hissed at Harry, shoving his wand back into the pocket in his jacket.

Harry just glared at him, "Don't worry."

"Oh, I do worry, especially with you three around her," he said eyeing all three of them up. Hermione raised her brow amused as she watched the two boys acting like two fighting cocks on one scrap heap. "She will turn up dead one day and it will be your fault," Draco said through his teeth.

The fact they did not bother to look for her immediately made him irrationally angry. He knew what would happen if she got caught by someone else, it would not be pretty. The two boys glanced at Amelia, who was standing several feet away, blissfully unaware of their heated conversation.

"I may even start to think that you care about her, Malfoy," Harry teased him with a growing smirk. Draco peeled his eyes off Amelia, slowly turning to the trio.

He bit his tongue as venomous words circled his mind, begging to be released, "Someone has to," he seethed and after a short contemplation, he turned on his heel swiftly walking away.

  
  



	3. Chapter Two

Amelia was offered to stay with the Weasley's for the rest of the summer and she accepted. Much to Ron’s excitement.

She never liked spending more time at home than she needed to. She felt like a constant disappointment to her parents. Her mother was Gryffindor and Quidditch player during her time in Hogwarts. They struck some luck with Oliver who seemed to be her carbon copy and then then came Amelia. Not only showing zero interest in Quidditch but also getting sorted into Slytherin. It is still her family; Amelia knows they love her despite all of that. They just have trouble showing it. Or forget to.

Mrs Weasley was a bit unsure about her presence at the beginning. Especially after hearing about how she was found with Draco at the World Cup, which she thought was odd and did let her opinion of the Malfoy's get the best of her. But she quickly warmed up to her. Seeing how comfortable everyone was with her around changed her mind in a couple of days and since she could not stop apologising for being cold towards her.

She never spent any time at the Burrow before, but Amelia quickly understood why Harry often called it his second home, right after Hogwarts. The Weasleys went out of their way to make everyone feel welcomed and at ease. It made her so happy to see that Harry had someone to care for him. Mrs and Mr Weasley claimed him as theirs without a second thought, despite having a full house already.

With Hermione and her on top of everyone else, the house got quite crowded, but no one seemed to mind. One could always find a quiet corner somewhere, for at least a few minutes and enjoy the silence.

Amelia has spent a lot of time with Fred and George in attempts to avoid never-ending questions from Harry about the World Cup. His seeming obsession with Draco was slowly but surely driving her up a wall. The boy might as well be Voldemort himself judged by Harry’s hatred towards him.

It turned out that they met Draco as well, it must have been only a few minutes before he found her. And he was his typical arse-self to them. At least it seemed like it, they refused to talk about it in detail. Amelia tried to pry at Hermione one evening, but it led nowhere. The witch just snapped at her to leave it alone.

This fine afternoon Harry came up with the nonsensical idea that Draco was probably leading her to the Death Eaters and not away from them. Which all of them, frankly, found ridiculous.

“Harry,” Amelia laughed, borderline desperate as Harry tried to prove his point for at least a tenth time within the hour, “I think if he wanted me found, he would have left me there without offering help. Plus, for Merlin's sake, he was ready to hex you when you came in running out of the dark!”

“You never know with Malfoy,” he shrugged. Amelia opened and closed her mouth, having no idea what to say to that. Instead, she shot a desperate look to Ron and Hermione. They both shook their heads lightly, just as tired of this as she was. Amelia never quite understood Harry’s obsession with Malfoy. The same could be said about Malfoy’s obsession with Harry. But Harry was much more vocal about it, Draco seethed and fed his hatred quietly. 

Draco was on her mind more than she cared to admit. She wouldn’t call Draco her friend, they just shared a friend group and spent extended periods of time together because of that. 

At times Amelia doubted if Draco considered anyone to be his friend, he is always keeping a distance and if someone gets too close, he shuts them off and severs the connection. Crabbe and Goyle could have been mistaken for Draco’s shadow during the first two years, especially Goyle - they were almost joined at the hip. But last year they barely spent any time together. Instead, Draco latched onto Theo and Zabini, effectively joining her little circle of friends.

_“Did you notice anything about the man?” Mr Weasley asked for at least a fourth time, trying to get a better description of the person they saw casting the Dark Mark. Amelia shook her head but got distracted by a blonde head slowly disappearing in the darkness._

_“Draco!” Amelia yelled after him, quickly excusing herself to Mr Weasley. Draco stopped on the spot and looked back at her with a surprised expression._

_“Hope you don’t expect me to call you Amelia as well,” he uttered as she walked up to him._

_“I wouldn’t expect you to drop that low,” she said, taken aback, slightly confused. Her posture relaxed a bit as Draco tried to bite back a smirk that crept onto his face, “I just wanted to thank you.”_

_Draco’s brow shot up, “For?”_

_Amelia sighed dramatically, “Oh sod off…”_

_“Say it. Come on,” he cocked his head._

“What is this secret meeting about?” Fred and George said in unison, sticking their heads inside Ron's room. Amelia shot them a grateful glance as she snapped out of her daydream... about Draco - she really needs to stop thinking about him. 

Their appearance usually meant a change of topic or a chance for her to leave the conspiracy theory debate. 

“Harry has another theory about Malfoy,” Ron chuckled, leaning back against the frame of the bed.

The twins looked unimpressed, “What is it now?” Fred plopped himself down on the ground next to Amelia, leaning against her side lightly as he looked at Harry, who just sighed but remained silent.

“He thinks that Dr- Malfoy was leading me into a trap,” Amelia explained with a chuckle. The twins scoffed immediately.

“As much as I hate the idea of Malfoy being the good guy here,” George muttered as he leaned against the door frame, “Did you not say that he was literally shielding her with his own body? Don't get me wrong – yikes, being under that git… but if he wanted her to get hurt - he would not do that?”

Amelia squeezed her eyes shut for a second. _More so if it lands me on top of you._ He really decided to haunt her.

“Harry, my friend, this one is the weakest one so far,” Fred admitted, getting up again, “Try something better tomorrow. If you don't mind, we will steal mortally bored Amelia and have another go at explaining Quidditch in action to her,” he winked at her, pulling Amelia on her feet as well. Maybe with too much force as she stumbled falling forward, falling into him

“Great! As long as there will be no mention of Malfoy!” she called after the twins who were already rushing down the stairs.

Ron cackled as Amelia ran down the stairs, Hermione tried to hide a smile as well. Harry looked at them confused. He was crap at reading people and unless someone told him he never knew anything. He was worse than Ron and that almost offended him, Ron was about as receptive as a rock.

“What’s so funny?” he glanced at his snickering friends.

Ron choked back even more laughter, “How come that I get bullied for being unobservant?” 

The twins were saving her sanity. Even if it usually meant playing a simplified version of Quidditch, which she had zero interest in, out in the yard or being a lab rat for various of their _inventions_. 

She learnt fairly quickly not to try any edibles they make. She did once, out of the goodness of her heart and a fair share of naivety, and she ended up throwing up green jelly substance for at least 2 hours. Which she later learnt was the point.

Mrs Weasley was not pleased.

Or the one time they fed a muffin to Percy and he was covered in exploding warts for almost 3 days. Amelia was sure he was still not talking to them.

Amelia finally walked outside expecting to be handed a broom, but instead, the twins waved at her from the little shed at the edge of the property. Mr Weasley let them use it as their... lab? HQ? Amelia was surprised every day that it yet has to blow up. Something in there will be an explosive and it was only a matter of time.

“What did you make now?” Amelia poked her head in carefully, covering her eyes just in case.

“Come on now! Have a little faith in us,” Fred moaned, fakely offended when his eyes landed on Amelia slowly walking in. She leaned against the door frame, raising her brow at him. Trusting them usually did not end well for her. As far as the contents of this shed go.

“Tadadaa!” George sang off-key, shimming two tiny vials in front of her face. If he shoved them any closer to her face, she would have cross-eyed.

Amelia shook her head, “No, absolutely not. I am not swallowing a single thing you two make.” she said decisively as she looked away from the vials.

“These two are fairly innocent,” Fred said, holding in a chuckle, Amelia glared at him. The chuckle did not particularly help his claim.

“Just two simple potions, Snape will have you make them too at one point or another,” George shrugged. “This is Veritaserum,” he said holding up the little bottle of clear liquid, “Quite boring honestly. But this one... this one is fun. This is Amortentia, a fairly weak version. It should wear off within an hour or two.”

Amelia stared at them blankly, “You two idiots have made truth serum and love potion?” They nodded quite proudly. Amelia began to worry over the upcoming school year, these two will be a nightmare. If only McGonagall knew what was coming, she would have expelled them in advance.

“And we want you to test it.”

“No, no way,” the younger witch folded her arms across her chest, “Absolutely not, what do you not understand about _not swallowing a single thing you make_?”

“Come on!”

“Test it yourself,” Amelia scoffed, her gaze jumping in between the two of them. 

“We are twins, we know everything about each other-” George tried to argue.

“What does that have to do with anything?”

“We won't let you do anything stupid,” Fred added.

“Having me drink _that_ is allowing me to do something stupid,” Amelia retorted.

“Can you tell me why I agreed to do this again?” Amelia sighed as she sat down on the stool, “I swear to god if you let me do anything stupid, I will sacrifice my future at Hogwarts and hex you...” she threatened them. They had their ways of making her do things, she still did not understand how and why she always agreed.

“You have our word,” they said in unison. She sighed again, that meant nothing coming from them. Especially with that smirk. That never meant anything good.

“Start with this one,” George cleared his throat and hands her opened vial of Veritaserum. Amelia sniffed it carefully, it did not seem to have a scent.

“How long will it last?” she stopped herself from putting it to her lips.

“Couple of minutes at best,” Fred said confidently, “But of course, we've made an antidote.”

Amelia took a deep breath, “As much as I like you two, I hate you equally as much.” She muttered as she threw the potion down her throat. Fred and George held their breath for a second. 

An odd feeling washed over her. As if all the weight was lifted from her shoulders, the weight of responsibility for what is said. Warmth had spread through her chest and slowly tricked its way throughout her body. In a twisted way, she never felt freer. She is in trouble.

“Is it working?” Fred asked carefully.

“You tell me! Ask me something,” Amelia rolled her eyes, “Did you seriously just have me drink truth serum and have no questions ready?” She laughed as they stared blankly.

“Who is the better looking out of the two of us?” George chuckled leaning against a piece of wood that pretended to be a desk.

“Fred,” Amelia said without a second thought and her hands shot up to cover her mouth the moment she uttered it.

 _They did it_ , she thought to herself. Deep down she hoped they got something slightly wrong, and she wouldn’t be compelled to answer everything the very second.

“I told you,” Fred elbowed George confidently, who just shot a disappointed look at Amelia. She flashed bright red. She is in big trouble.

“We are twins, you bloody dimwit,” George mumbled back at his brother, but then a victorious grin spread itself over his face, “Let me knock you off your high horse. A, who do you fancy?”

“That's dirty! Of course, it will be Harry, come on, mate,” Fred whined almost inaudibly.

“Draco...” Amelia blurted out again not able to stop herself.

_“Say it. Come on,” he cocked his head. She stared at him blankly. He is messing with her and she is falling for it. He confused her too much for her own liking. Hot and cold at the same time. Trying to get closer while figuratively holding her as far as possible. She stared at her feet, regretting going after him. That’s what she gets for having manners. Her gaze slid up his form. Black well-fitted suit, his hands casually in his pant pockets, black turtleneck under the jacket which highlighted his broader shoulders… “Keep staring and I might think you want to kiss me.”_

_Amelia snapped out of it, realizing her eyes wandered to his lips, which were now twisted in a cheeky grin. She blinked rapidly, horrified by her thoughts. He ran his tongue against the inside of his cheek and lower lip as her face turned bright red, “Oh god, I’ve zoned out,” Draco snickered, narrowing his eyes at her, still demanding an answer to his previous question, “Thanks for trying to help me, I am sure this good deed will haunt you forever.”_

_“There is the Slytherin,” Draco said quietly, “Actually, it wasn’t the worst. Maybe I will develop a saviour complex as well. More so if it lands me on top of you,” he smirked at her one last time before walking away._

_Amelia stared again; he must have felt her stare in his back. It rarely ever happened but he left her speechless, “Surely not...You are tired and making this up,” Amelia talked to herself as she watched the blonde Slytherin disappear in the darkness._

“Wait, what?!” their heads snapped in her direction, quickly forgetting their beef. “Are you joking?” They exchanged short, confused looks with each other.

“No, I am not,” Amelia muttered. The answer surprised her too. But it still was the better alternative. She could have just as well said Fred and that would be bad. He would never let her forget it. Or George.

The potion is not stopping her from blushing and getting all red in her face. The duo chuckled, “Say a word to anyone and I will still hex you.” She warned them again. This time the two brothers seem to have taken her seriously, after all, she said it with the truth serum still in her system.

The topic of Draco seemed to intrigue them though, “Is he always as insufferable?” Amelia groaned, she wanted to do anything but talk about Draco. But that slender boy always seemed to find his way in. 

To her relief, the familiar heaviness of realizing the consequences of her words returned and her mind was enslaved with responsibility and preserving some dignity. The twins noticing the shift in her posture sighed in disappointment.

“It was finally getting interesting,” Fred complained. 

Amelia breathed a sigh of relief, the few minutes made her truly appreciate having limits on what leaves her lips, “Speak for yourself, Weasley.”

“Don’t start with your and Malfoy’s habit of ignoring first names,” the other twin snickered, Amelia glared at him. Only making him chuckle some more, “He really gets you going, huh?”

She was wrong, they won’t allow her to forget this either. 

“No fun in trying the love potion now,” Fred said seemingly randomly. Amelia managed to forget about the other potion, “Maybe take it and try it on Draco.” Fred smirked at her and she could feel the heat returning to her cheeks, “What a shame though, I was really looking forward to you being in love with me for a couple of hours.” Amelia choked on the water and started violently coughing.

One afternoon Amelia was out in the yard, rocking herself back and forth on a good old muggle swing hung from a tree branch. Mr Weasley’s obsession with muggle things was truly great sometimes. It kept him fascinated for almost the whole afternoon on the day they decided to make it. He couldn’t understand why muggles would willingly make so much effort to feel their stomach drop. Amelia just laughed. _If he just knew what muggles do just for the thrill._

She heard footsteps walking up towards her. Glancing over her shoulder, she spotted Harry slowly dragging himself towards her. As he approached Amelia, she moved towards the side of the swing, making enough room for him to sit down next to her.

“You seem tired,” Amelia stated looking at his face. The dark circles under his eyes seemed to be getting worse by the day. His usually lively green eyes seemed dull.

Harry rubbed the scar on his forehead, something that he also started doing recently, “I am. My sleep is horrendous lately.” He sighed.

“Why don’t you ask twins for some Sleeping Draught?” she suggested lightly. Harry shook his head, “You have to sleep.” She pressed on further.

“Amelia, that was the first thing I tried. It just made things worse…” he said before he could stop himself.

Amelia glanced at him with growing worry, “Made what worse?”

“The nightmares. I keep having this one dream over and over, day after day. Without the Draught I can jerk myself awake, with it I am stuck,” he said quietly, digging his feet into the dirt below them. Amelia squeezed his shoulder reassuringly.

“When did those start?”

“Just before the World Cup,” he said and the hair at the back of Amelia’s neck shot up. Harry noticed the uneasiness, “I know how it sounds. The worst thing though - the dream is about Voldemort.”

Amelia gulped, remembering her own uneasiness at the World Cup, “What do you see in those dreams? Does it mean anything, you reckon?” She watched him intently. Harry stretched, cracking his neck to shake off the bad feeling collecting inside of him. He tried not to think about the dreams in too much detail ever since they started. They did not feel right and he much more prefered not knowing.

“Well… There’s a cemetery, a statue of Death on some tombstone- And it feels as if I was a snake going through the grass and towards this house,” Harry pauses and Amelia instinctively hugs herself, rubbing her arms. The imagery sent shivers down her spine, “And inside there’s Pettigrew, Voldemort and someone else. I am not sure who. And they kill some muggle.”

Amelia stayed silent for a minute, not sure how to react. It would be too much of a coincidence if Harry started dreaming about Voldemort just before the Quidditch championship got burnt to the ground by Death Eaters with looming Dark Mark above it. Harry seemed to realize the unlikeliness of that.

“You should talk to someone about it, Harry,” she said after a while. Harry sighed loudly, he clearly did not want to hear that, “Tell Sirius if no one else. I am sure he would like to know about this. Okay?” Amelia nudged his side with her elbow.

“OK, I will send Hedwig,” Harry nodded eventually, forcing a tired smile onto his face.


	4. Chapter Three - Pugface

“Hey! Amelia!” Theodore screamed down the train aisle nearly as soon as she set foot onto the train. Amelia waved at him, signalling that she will get there in a minute.

She stuck her head into the compartment that Harry, Ron and Hermione found, “I will see you later, okay? Gotta go,” she muttered as she reached her hand for her backpack on the seat. She was gone before Harry managed to say a word, though he looked like he had several things to say.

Squeezing herself past a couple of people in the aisle, Amelia finally reached the open space carriage that is almost traditionally occupied by Slytherin students. She barely closed the door behind her when Daphne and Theo threw themselves around her neck.

“Bloody hell,” she breathed out as she stumbled backwards under their weight. Draco, who sat at their booth, not bothering to greet her, snorted.

 _Glad we are back to normal arrogant git_ , Amelia thought. Draco was wearing a similar suit as he did in the summer, he was dressed in all black. It made him look even paler than he usually did. Amelia mentally slapped herself, she needs to get Draco out of her head.

“How was summer?” Daphne started the shower of questions as they both sat back down next to Blaise, who just waved at her, too invested in some book to bother. Amelia stood there awkwardly for a few seconds before Draco, not so willingly slid to the window making space for her to sit down. They both avoided looking at one another, Amelia was worried she will go on another of hers mental tangents, staring at him. She gave him the satisfaction once and felt no need for round 2.

“Did you go to the World Cup?”

“She did, Nott!” Daphne hissed at Theo, smacking his shoulder, “More important question – what exactly happened?”

“Yes! This arse won't say a word!” Theo said accusingly pointing at Draco. Amelia's eyes shot towards Draco, who looked very much bothered as he was slouched in the seat. _Malfoy’s don’t slouch_ , she corrected herself, choking back a giggle.

“We are on this train for maybe 10 minutes and I already want to kill you all. How do you just do that?” Draco groaned from his side of the bench, “Potter left her for dead. It was a charity,” he finally shrugged.

 _Charity, great_.

Draco seemed to notice the almost disappointed sigh from her and finally glanced at her. He felt as if he was looking at a completely different witch. She looked relaxed, tanned. Her eyes looked brighter, standing out against the golden skin. The sun brought out a bunch of freckles on her nose and across the cheeks. And instead of her regular perfume, which he grew used to over the past year, she smelled like fresh air and mowed grass.

“No saviour complex then?” Amelia glared at him. He ignored the snickers from their friends sitting across and stared at her, “Anyway can we not talk about that? I was listening to various theories for almost 3 weeks while at the Burrow...” Amelia groaned, rolling her eyes.

“The Burrow? You were at the Weasley's?” Theo asked with a raised brow, just as Draco shifted uncomfortably next to her, now fully realizing she smelled like the Weasleys, feeling put off immediately. Draco leaned back against the window with great annoyance. It all made sense now.

“Yes, I was. I really don’t understand your issues with them,” Amelia said with a pointed tone. She was sick and tired of being constantly trapped in this little war between them.

“I haven’t said anything,” Theo tried to defend himself, but Amelia just glared at him.

“Your tone suggested it,” she said dryly, “And your body language.” Amelia glared back at Draco, who just rolled his eyes.

Daphne smacked Theo again, “You dimwits!” She hissed, only side-eyeing Draco, who would probably hex her if she touched him, “How was the Burrow, A?” Amelia shot her grateful smile. Despite being a Greengrass she had all five wheels together and when she tried, she got along with the Weasley’s. They did not particularly like her back but had enough tact not to show it.

“Exhausting at times, honestly, Harry could not stop talking about the World Cup,” Amelia admitted, shaking her head at the memory of the discussions she was forced to witness, “Literally the only people keeping me sane were the twins.”

Daphne chuckled, “The twins, huh?” Amelia widened her eyes at Daphne, fully knowing where she was heading with that comment. So did Theodore who started choking next to her. “I am just saying-” Daphne started but suddenly winced, glaring at Draco as she reached down to rub her shin.

 _Did he just kick her?_ Theo seemed to have gotten the same idea as they glanced at each other.

“What was he saying?” Draco finally asked, breaking the uncomfortable silence.

“Harry?” Amelia turned to him confused, silently thanking him for moving the conversation along and further from the Weasley‘s, “Well… He somehow- don’t ask me what thought process led him to this, I truly do not know… He thought and probably still thinks, to be honest with you- that… uh that you were taking me to the Death Eaters,” Amelia shook her head as Daphne with Theodore burst out laughing. Draco's eyes stayed fixed on her to see if she was joking or not.

“Oh no, this won't end well,” Theo mumbled knowingly, pretending to be extremely interested in the view out of the window. Even the rest of that side was mentally bracing themselves for something. Then a girl mincingly cleared her throat hovering right over Amelia.

“If you don't mind – that's my seat,” said Pansy.

Amelia rolled her eyes at the sound of her voice, “Really? How come?”

“You see, you are sitting next to my boyfriend so move,” she sneered, if looks could kill Amelia would be dead already. Amelia glanced at Draco, contemplating hitting him with _Got yourself a girlfriend, Malfoy_ , but decided not to.

Draco stirred, uncomfortable as ever, trying his best to blend in with the seat. The other half of the group, however, were making all sorts of choking and wheezing sounds as they tried to keep themselves together. But Blaise could not hold it in anymore and chuckled.

“What's so funny, Zabini?” Pansy turned to the tall boy hunched over in the corner, opposite Draco. He just wheezed further in response, leaning his forehead against the window.

“Parkinson,” Draco groaned, sitting up straighter. Not even his supposed girlfriend deserved to be called by her first name, “If I wanted to waste time with you, I would not be sitting here.” He said as he glared at her. Amelie widened her eyes and exchanged a surprised look with Daphne, who was about to burst into a fit of laughter.

Amelia could not help herself but feel bad for Pansy, that was quite brutal. For all she knew, Pansy was obsessed with Draco since the first year. On more than one occasion did she hear her boasting about how they will get married after Hogwarts. It became almost a joke, but that poor girl did not realize it. She was willingly putting up Draco’s rude comments and the ruder he got with her the happier she seemed. As if she considered it affection.

She found herself wondering whether it was truly one-sided from Pansy or if Draco had any feelings for her. Maybe he was different in private? Somehow, she doubted that would be the case.

 _Yet here you are pining after him, you bint_ , she scolded herself as her thoughts started running in the wrong direction.

“Sod off, Pugface,” Daphne finally said as they all were still processing what Draco said and her so-called boyfriend was too done with the situation to interact any further.

“What on earth?” Daphne looked at Draco, genuinely shocked as Pansy walked back to her seat. They all had no idea what had hit them, “You and a boyfriend?” Draco’s face relaxed a bit when he realized what they were so shocked about.

“Say it, Wood,” he sighed after he quickly scanned everyone’s faces. Corners of Amelia’s mouth were twitching as she still had the perfect throwback one-liner on her mind.

“Got yourself a girlfriend, Malfoy?” she copied his higher-pitched voice from years ago. Successfully triggering salves of laughter from all three people sitting opposite of them. Draco shook his head and hid his smile by turning to look out of the window.

After the sorting and the feast, Dumbledore took the word for his annual welcome speech.

He started his yearly reminder how every other hallway, door or staircase can kill them, did not forget to mention the Dark Forest - putting the majority of the hall almost to sleep.

But then he got everyone’s attention by daringly announcing, “It is also my painful duty to inform you that the Inter-House Quidditch Cup will not take place this year,” he said after the list of usual rules.

The Great Hall fell silent. The majority of students looked at each other confusedly or mouthed Dumbledore's words back to themselves, double and triple-checking if they understood correctly. If there was any food left on the tables, Amelia was sure he would catch some chicken wings from Fred and George, they looked enraged.

Dumbledore continued, “This is due to an event that will be starting in October, and continuing throughout the school year, taking up much of the teachers’ time and energy. I have great pleasure in announcing that this year at Hogwarts-”

Suddenly the ceiling gained a mind of its own and the storm mirroring the weather outside got a dozen times worse. There was deafening rumbling along with large and strong strikes of lighting. The leftover cups on the tables shaking just like anything in the room.

The doors of the Great Hall flew open, the majority of the students noticed only after the newcomer sent bright red light into the ceiling storm, instantly causing it to clear up. All heads snapped in the stranger's direction.

“Is that....” Blaise murmured as they all squinted at the entrance trying to see who it was, “Nah, that can't be...”

The stranger started to wobble down the main aisle towards Dumbledore, who seemed unphased by all of that. Amelia had no idea who it was, but he looked intimidating. Decently long, dark grey messy hair, a metal foot that made an awful amount of noise, his face was covered in scars.

But his eyes were the most unsettling.

He wore an eye patch with a fake eye that seemed to be moving independently of his actual eye. Rolling from side to side, up and down and even to the back of his head.

When he finally reached Dumbledore, they shook hands and muttered a few words to each other.

“May I introduce our new Defence Against the Dark Arts teacher?” said Dumbledore turning back to the Hall full of confused students, “Professor Moody.” 

Dumbledore along with Hagrid started clapping as it was the usual welcome for new staff members, but it was only met by blank stares from the students.

“Moody?” Amelia leaned to her friends, “Like Mad-Eye Moody?” They all were equally as hypnotised by him, Blaise just nodded absent-mindedly, staring at the man taking his seat at the main table. Amelia heard of him before. He was by far the most successful Auror the Ministry ever had. At least half of Azkaban was there thanks to him. He was a living legend.

“As I was saying,” Dumbledore continued, “I have great pleasure in announcing that this year at Hogwarts we will be hosting the Triwizard Tournament! A very exciting event that has not been held for over a century. The Triwizard Tournament was first established some seven hundred years ago as a friendly competition between the three largest European schools of wizardry: Hogwarts, Beauxbatons, and Durmstrang. A champion was selected to represent each school, and the three champions competed in three magical tasks. The schools took it in turns to host the tournament once every five years, and it was generally agreed to be a most excellent way of establishing ties between young witches and wizards of different nationalities — until, that is, the death toll mounted so high that the tournament was discontinued. The heads of Beauxbatons and Durmstrang along with their short-listed contenders will arrive in October and the champions will be chosen on Halloween. The champions will then compete for the Triwizard Cup, glory and a thousand of Galleons.”

Amelia’s jaw dropped slightly as she listened to the Headmaster. Excited chit chat spread through the Hall. Especially at the Gryffindor table, Amelia could not help herself but laugh at how predictable that was. On the other hand, the majority of Slytherins were left unphased. Risking life for a thousand of Galleons did not seem attractive enough.

Amelia jumped when Daphne threw herself on her bed, closing the curtains and casting silencing charm. She stared at her blankly over the upper edge of her book, waiting for an explanation.

“Now tell me everything,” Daphne ordered and made herself comfortable. Amelia gaped at her, “I need to hear everything about the Quidditch fiasco. I saw how you two looked at each other. Something happened. Spill it.” Amelia sighed, closing the book.

Daphne for once managed to sit through the whole story without major disturbances, only the odd gasps or snickers here and there.

“… and before he left, he said _Especially if it lands me on top of you_. Soul left my body then and there.” Amelia pushed her hair out of her face.

“ _Especially if it lands me on top of you_? Per verbatim?” she asked with wide eyes. Amelia nodded as her cheeks grew hotter, “What did you say?”

“Nothing! I just stared at him as he walked away,” Amelia admitted. Daphne whined in disappointment. She felt for her. She usually was able to come with some comeback on spot, but Draco regularly left her lost for words.

“Poor Pansy,” Daphne chuckled suddenly, “She can split herself in half and Draco still won’t pay attention to her and now we know why… YOU!” she laughed when Amelia glanced at her confused.

But Amelia shook her head, “Don’t be ridiculous, Daph. He wouldn’t touch me with ten-foot pole…”

That sigh sparked Daphne’s attention even more. Her eyes widened, “Do you want him to touch you? Amelia! Are you trying to tell me you are crushing on Malfoy?”

“Apparently…” she shrugged, waiting for the ground to swallow her whole.

“Apparently? Did someone tell you to crush on him? Stop talking in riddles,” she complained.

Amelia sighed as she realized she would need to explain the one afternoon with Fred and George. She kept digging a bigger and bigger hole for herself, “This will sound weird, but hear me out. Back at the Burrow, I was spending most of the time with the twins… Also, don’t ask me why we did this, I cannot tell – anyway one day I drank Veritaserum-“

“YOU DID WHAT?” Daphne screamed at her.

“You heard me. Anyway, I drank it and… well one of their questions was who I fancy… Mind you, I was already planning my funeral, I expected to say Fred, but Draco’s name came out. I was more shocked than them, to be fair,” Amelia rubbed her eyes as a wave of cringe and embarrassment hit her. Daphne sat in silence, looking at her for a while.

Finally, she cleared her throat, “Fred? Do I even know you?”

Amelia walked into the classroom for their first class with Mad-Eye. She was running late and hated herself for it as soon as she set foot into the room. Glancing over the classroom, cataloguing every empty chair there, she found only one. The one next to Draco.

Draco was almost laying on the desk, resting his chin on top of a pile of books as he played with the ring on his index finger. Amelia groaned quietly.

_This is a bad joke._

As she passed Daphne, Amelia looked at her. Her friend seemed way too happy about it. This was not an accident.

She threw her stuff on the desk in frustration, making Draco jump and stare at her offendedly, “This is not your seat,” he groaned, not even bothering to raise his head.

“I am afraid it is. Look around,” she muttered as she sat down. Draco listened and craned his neck, scanning the classroom. His eyes eventually landed on overly happy Daphne and Theodore.

“I will break their necks, I swear to Merlin,” he whispered, clutching the edges of The Dark Forces: A Guide to Self-Protection with all the force.

Amelia nodded, “That makes two of us, trust me,” she muttered as she glared back at the two gits she called her friends. They were holding back laughter, tears almost brimming in their eyes. Daphne was teasing her about Draco ever since she told her the full story of the night at the Quidditch World Cup. Especially their short interaction after.

And being the blabbermouth she was, she told Theodore. At least him, but Amelia wouldn’t be surprised if everyone who she talked to during the day knew.

Draco laid back down on the book pile and stared ahead. Amelia shifted in her seat next to him, folding one leg under her, pulling her hair all to one side. As she did, familiar perfume hit Draco’s nose.

“Stop,” Draco groaned out of the blue.

Amelia glanced at him confused, “I- what? I haven't done anything. What got your panties in a twist today, Malfoy?” she retorted. One day back and she is already tired of him, it might be a new record.

“You, surprisingly,” he said glaring at her. Her eyes widened involuntarily.

 _That’s new_.

Resting her cheek in the palm of her hand as she leaned against the table, Amelia looked at him and thought about her answer for a moment. His eyes were still on her and she stared back.

She was done being scared of him, trying to stay out of his way to make sure he is not a dick to her. She spent the better part of the past 3 years hiding from him, staying quiet when he was around. She saw a different side of him briefly in the summer and there is no way that this is his default.

Also, what she said when on Veritaserum was still eating at her. Is she really crushing on him? She must be, she was compelled the tell the truth. But how?

“Why are you so determined to convince people you don’t care?” Amelia muttered before she could stop herself. Draco cocked his brow at her as a sign to shut up, but she continued, “Whenever someone gets closer to you, you shut them off. When you do something nice for someone, you wash it down by being an absolute moron. Why?”

“You don’t know me, Wood,” he glared at her.

“Clearly, but does anyone?” Amelia scanned his expression. He ducked his chin briefly as if he was surprised by her question.

Draco clenched his jaw, “There’s not much to know.”

Amelia shook her head, “Let others be the judge of that-”

The door behind their backs shut close, stopping their conversation to Draco’s relief, and Moody waddled down the corridor accompanied by the distinct clunking of his prosthetic.

“Put those away,” he snarled as he reached his desk, “The books - gone. You won’t need them.” The class returned the books to their bags, exchanging confused looks. Amelia’s eyes met Harry’s across the room, who looked extra confused spotting her next to Malfoy. She shrugged, shaking her head.

“Right then,” he said as he finished taking their attendance, “I got a letter from Professor Lupin about this class. Seems you’ve got a pretty solid handle on Dark creatures… You’ve covered boggarts, Red Caps, grindylows, hinkypunks and werewolves, is that right?”

The class nodded.

“But you are behind, very behind, on dealing with curses,” he continued walking towards the first row of seats, “I am here to bring you up to speed on how wizards can hurt, maim and kill each other. Got one year to teach you how to survive. So let’s not waste time!”

Amelia’s heart was beating out of her chest, this man made her incredibly nervous for no reason. Everyone else seemed fascinated. Amelia talked to Fred and George earlier at breakfast, who had their class with him the previous day, and they were over the moon. Moody matched their kind of crazy.

“So, curses… They come in many shapes and forms. According to the ministry, I am supposed to only teach you countercurses. You are not supposed to know what illegal Dark curses look like. Not until the sixth year. But I say the sooner you know, the better. So does any of you know which curses are the most punished?” 

Amelia swallowed as she felt her throat tighten, was he really about to teach them unforgivable curses? No one seemed one bit concerned, Draco even finally raised his head from the pile of books and started paying attention.

Several hands shot up into the air, Moody pointed at Ron, “Ehm,” Ron cleared his throat, “My dad told me about one… the Imperious Curse?”

“Ah right, right,” Moody nodded, “Your father would know that one, it gave the Ministry quite the trouble at one time.” He turned around wobbling towards several glasses with various insects in them. Ron gulped, staring at Moody taking out a spider. Amelia cringed as they all watched Moody enlarge it.

He held it in his hand so everyone could see it, pointed his wand at it, “ _Imperio_!”

The spider leapt from Moody’s hand and began swinging through the air on a fine thread of silk, breaking the thread landing on the desk right in front of Ron and Harry. Ron quickly clapped a hand over his mouth, holding back a squeal. Draco next to her was having the time of his life.

“Think it’s funny, do you?” Moody growled raising his brow, “You wouldn’t like it if I did it to you.” The spider cartwheeled over the length of the desk and leapt across the corridor to Amelia and Draco. Amelia recoiled back in her seat, trying to put as much of a distance between herself and that creature. It was making her skin crawl. Her long face made Draco laugh again and so with a flick of Moody’s wand the spider landed right on Malfoy’s face. Amelia chuckled as Draco flailed around trying to get it off of his face.

“Absolute control,” Moody said as the spider lifted off of Draco’s face floating through the room, “Should it jump out of the window? Should we drown it?” He asked as the spider jumped from one spot to another around the room.

“Years back, there were a lot of people who claimed to be under the Imperius Curse,” said Moody, hovering the spider over a magnifying glass, “They claimed to be doing the Dark Lord’s bidding only because of that. Quite the task for the Ministry, trying to sort out who was indeed cursed and who was acting on their own free will.”

Moody’s eyes both rested on Draco. Draco’s face stiffened as he glared back at Moody resistantly.

Moody continued, “The Imperius Curse can be fought. And I’ll teach you how, but it takes real strength of character. And not everyone has got it. Better to avoid being hit altogether. CONSTANT VIGILANCE!” he suddenly screamed, making everyone jump.

Amelia finally decided - he scared her.

Moody picked up the spider and held it in his open palm, “Any other curse? Another illegal curse?”

Neville’s hand was up, besides other students, Moody’s eyes fixated on him, “Yes?”

Neville swallowed, surprised by his courage, he usually never spoke in classes outside of herbology, “There’s the… The Cruciatus Curse,” he croaked.

Moody hummed in agreement, “Longbottom, is it?” Neville nodded nervously. Moody set the spider on top of a pile of books at the edge of Neville’s desk. The poor boy swallowed hard, regretting ever raising his hand.

Moody raised his wand again aiming it at the spider, “ _Crucio!_ ”

The spider rolled over on its back, its legs bending in unnatural ways as it twitched uncontrollably. It did not make a sound, thankfully, but if it could it would be screaming. Amelia shut her eyes as she turned her head the other way.

“Stop it!” Hermione eventually shrieked, “You are hurting him!”

Amelia opened her eyes and turned to her, Hermione wasn’t looking at the spider, which was jerking violently at this point but Neville.

Neville was clutching the edge of the desk for dear life, his knuckles white. He was paler than death and his eyes were wide. He looked scared out of his mind.

 _That’s a lifelong trauma in the making_.

Draco chuckled and Amelia did not hesitate to smack his arm closest to her. Moody removed his wand and the spider could finally relax, but it still twitched.

“Right… and the last one?” Moody said looking around the room. No one dared to make sound or move a muscle, “Miss Granger?” He asked as the spider floated through the air and landed right in front of her. It was still lying on its back. It seemed exhausted.

Hermione shook her head defiantly, not daring to look at Moody.

“The last and worst one. Avada Kedavra- the killing curse,” Moody looked around the class. Everyone was looking anywhere but at him. He raised his wand for the last time and muttered, “ _Avada Kedavra._ ”

There was a bright flash of green light and a rushing sound and the spider dropped dead. Several students held back a cry. Amelia once again turned her head away from the now murder scene, tears stinging in her eyes. Moody swept the dead spider off the desk onto the floor and Ron nearly fell off his seat as the spider flew in his direction.

“Not pleasant,” he said as if nothing happened, “And there’s no countercurse. There’s no blocking it. Once it hits you - you are done. Caput. Only one person has ever survived it and he is sitting right here.” Moody’s eyes landed on Harry. Harry gulped as his face got redder.

No one spoke for the rest of the class, they spent it taking notes on each of the curses in shocked silence. As soon as Moody left the classroom, a wild discussion started. People were talking about it as if they just witnessed some spectacular show.

Amelia could not help herself, but she did not find it one bit entertaining. She leaned back in her seat, staring blankly at the blackboard. She still could see the spider twitching and jerking right in front of her, she still saw the green light when she closed her eyes.

“Wood?” Draco nudged her, “Are you okay?”

Amelia shook her head to snap out of the horrible daydream, “Not sure.” She shrugged. Draco ran his fingers through his hair, with slight frustration, he had no clue how to cope with other people’s emotions. He barely knew what to do with his own.

He nudged her again, “Let’s go to dinner, huh?”

“I am not hungry,” she whispered, looking at her shaking hands as she balled them up into a fist and then relaxed them again. Hands still shaking.

Draco stared at her hands for a moment, trying to come up with some kind of appropriate response. Being sterile and cold came naturally to him, this was pushing the borders of his comfort zone.

“I was not giving you options. Go on,” he sighed eventually as he came up with nothing better and forced her to get up.

Amelia grabbed her bag and threw it over her shoulder. Once again she was glad for Draco. His no-bs attitude came in clutch again.

She watched him stuff his things into his bag. He looked not bothered by anything that happened in the class. Amelia wondered whether he is just good at hiding it or if he truly does not care. Draco shuffled himself towards the same corridor that Amelia was stood in.

“Come on,” he mumbled, gently pushing on her lower back to make her move. He kept his hand there as he guided her out of the classroom.

Daphne and Theo exchanged accomplished looks. This was not really their plan but it was working better than they imagined. Harry noticed their obvious gleam after he saw Amelia leave with Draco. He narrowed his eyes at them.

Daphne grinned at him, “Just helping the inevitable.”

Harry glared at the duo, “Maybe don’t meddle with things you know nothing about.” He hated seeing Amelia anywhere near Draco and as he just found he hated, even more, when people tried to make things happen. He felt a similar sting by his heart as he did back that night at the Quidditch World Cup.

“Tough game, Potter,” Theodore smirked at him knowingly. Daphne widened her eyes as she stared at Theo with Harry.

“Zip it, Nott,” Harry groaned as he walked past them and out of the classroom, leaving Ron with Hermione behind.

The upcoming weeks were only as exciting as Snape’s threats about poisoning someone to test their knowledge of antidotes. Amelia forced herself to believe he was joking in his odd way, because if he meant it and it would be someone who’s not close to Hermione or Draco - they were dead. Hermione and Draco were the only people with decent marks from Snape. Though only Draco would get extra house points for his successes.

They were getting so much work to do in every class, they spent all their afternoons and evenings with their noses buried in books with regular threats of pitching someone off of Astronomy Tower or burning the school down. Hearing Blaise complain would be nothing new, but the validation everyone felt when Draco scowled _This is bullshit_ over Astronomy homework was the highlight of that week.

At the end of another exhausting week, as they made their way back to the castle from Hagrid’s class, they found themselves stuck due to a large crowd of students gathered at the entrance hall. There was a large sign erected at the bottom of the staircase. It took them seemingly forever to battle their way towards it.

**Triwizard tournament**

THE DELEGATIONS FROM BEAUXBATONS AND DURMSTRANG WILL BE ARRIVING AT 6 O’CLOCK ON FRIDAY THE 30TH OF OCTOBER. LESSONS WILL END HALF AN HOUR EARLY. STUDENTS WILL RETURN THEIR BAGS AND BOOKS TO THEIR DORMITORIES AND ASSEMBLE IN FRONT OF THE CASTLE TO GREET OUR GUESTS BEFORE THE WELCOMING FEAST.

“Brilliant!” Amelia heard Harry from somewhere in the crowd, “It’s Potions last thing on Friday! Snape won’t have time to poison us all.” Amelia chuckled, he had a point.

The news of their arrival sent the castle into an odd combination of chaos and anticipation. The suits of armour in the entrance hall were shining as new, portraits in the halls were scrubbed clean to their displeasure as they kept complaining. Every staff member was on the edge too.

When Amelia entered the Great Hall on the morning of the thirtieth of October, she was forced to make a double-take that she walked into the right room. The Great Hall got decorated overnight in the colours of individual houses. Enormous banners were hanging from the ceiling; red with a gold lion for Gryffindor, blue with a bronze eagle for Ravenclaw, yellow with a black badge for Hufflepuff and finally green with a silver snake for Slytherin. One last one hung behind the teacher’s table with the Hogwarts coat of arms. Lion, eagle, badger and a snake around large letter H.

Walking through the hall she spotted Harry, Ron and Hermione in a heated discussion with Fred and George. Well, Hermione was heated, Harry and Ron tried their best to disappear, while Fred and George were muttering things back at her. She was willing to bet, Hermione was hammering into them something about S.P.E.W. She hurried past them, she so far successfully avoided having that conversation with Hermione. And had no desire to get dragged into that discussion.

Amelia sat down with a sigh of relief when she made it to their usual spot at the Slytherin table without being spotted.

“Funny how is everyone terrified of Granger now, isn’t it?” Draco hissed when he arrived a few minutes later. He just dismissed Hermione with another slur and shoved past her. Amelia glared at him. S.P.E.W might be annoying, but she won’t stand for him being a douche.

“Was that necessary?” she asked annoyed.

Draco looked at her with a cocked brow, trying to come up with some response. Amelia’s habit of calling him out for things was driving him up a wall. He rarely ever had any satisfactory answer to her prodding questions. He eventually shook his head and applied himself to the scrambled eggs on his plate.

The whole day seemed like a daydream, the evening arrival was the main topic of the day. Barely anyone talked about anything else. As the bell rang early during the last lesson, everyone hurried to their dorms, changing into their robes before rushing back to the courtyard.

Once there the Heads of Houses were ordering their students into lines or at least trying to. They filed down the steps and lined up in front of the castle. It was rather cold to be standing out there willy nilly.

Amelia exchanged eye-rolls with Daphne as they both shivered as the wind picked up. Pucey, who was standing on her other side, got suddenly yanked back a line and was replaced by Draco. Daphne stifled a giggle as she looked away from angry Draco’s face.

“What’s wrong with you?” she questioned, looking up at him with wide eyes.

Draco’s jaw clenched as he stared blankly into the distance. After a moment he peered down at Amelia, “He’s not getting anywhere near you.” He said through gritted teeth. Her jaw dropped for a second, being at loss for words.

_What went into him?_

“And since when do you get to decide that?” Amelia raised her brow at him defiantly. There’s the controlling side of him that she’s never seen; him being bossy was nothing new. But she was used to that from Hermione. But policing who gets to stand next to her was fresh.

Draco side-eyed Pucey, who was silently fuming just behind them, before he looked back at the shorter irritated witch by his side, “Do you want to hear the details of how he imagines bending you over the sofa’s armrest in the common room?” He hissed in her direction. “Or other places. Really, it’s your choice...“

His eyes were cold and harder than steel. Amelia’s jaw dropped for the second time as she glanced at Adrian who was ruddy with rage, visibly seething. She barely knew him; all she knew about him is that he's two or so years higher and Chaser of their Quidditch team. Amelia could not even remember if they've ever talked or interacted in any way. He was quite forgettable as she thought more about it.

“So, you are welcome,” Draco said after a moment of shocked silence from Amelia, who was still staring up at him blankly. She was trying to decide if she was impressed or disturbed by how concerned he was with her. “Thank you will be enough,” he added dryly.

“Thanks,” she muttered without thinking, looking away.

“AHA!” Dumbledore finally called out from the top of the stairs, “The delegation from Beauxbatons approaches if I am not mistaken!”

Students were looking in all directions, trying to spot whatever Dumbledore was seeing, “Where?” several of them asked.

“ _There!_ ” someone finally screamed pointing towards the sky over the forest. Amelia squinted to focus her eyes, it was larger, and it definitely wasn’t a broomstick. As it approached the castle and the lights from inside hit it, it became obvious it is a large horse-drawn carriage. It rushed towards the courtyard, not showing any signs of slowing down. The whole student body cautiously took several steps back, getting out of the way. Hagrid tried to navigate it by waving his arms, pointing to a flatter area, only to nearly get hit as it landed with a loud crash.

The courtyard stared in silence as the carriage finally halted to a stop. The door opened and golden steps unfolded automatically. A few people gasped when a woman emerged from the carriage. A woman that made Hagrid look like a small child. Dumbledore started to clap, and the student followed his lead as she walked towards Dumbledore.

“My dear Madame Maxine,” he said kissing her hand, “Welcome to Hogwarts.” Amelie turned her attention back to the carriage. A group of boys and girls emerged from it and stood shivering in the courtyard as they had no cloaks and their uniforms seemed to be made of silk.

“French…” Draco groaned through his teeth rolling his eyes. Madame Maxine talked to Dumbledore shortly before together with her students went inside to warm up. The students looked anything but excited about setting foot into the castle, earning another scoff from Draco.

“Do we know anything about Durmstrang?” Amelia leaned towards Daphne.

Her friend shook her head, “Not really, I think they are from north of Europe… I just hope they won’t be as prissy as… them,” she scrunched up her nose. Amelia nodded. Beauxbatons will not have a good time here, she could totally see that.

Draco leaned into her, making her jump as his breath brushed her ear. Amelia froze on the spot, “They do not admit muggle-borns or people like you,” he said, giving the last words extra emphasis, “And unlike this pathetic excuse for school - they teach the Dark Arts. Father actually wanted to send me there.” Amelia glanced at him as he remained close to her. He smirked just as she turned her head towards him and stood up straight again.

“And yet, you are still bothering us here,” Amelia cocked her brow at him, “Imagine how peaceful it would be here with just half-bloods and muggle-borns, without your hateful ass,” Amelia muttered as she looked into the distance, pretending to daydream.

He flustered her way to easily. She knew it but had no idea how to prevent her mind from blanking whenever he gets even remotely close to her. Amelia side-eyed him. He was smirking ever so slightly, his eyes fixated on the valley with the lake in front of them. She couldn’t understand herself. Four and a half months ago, she would be fine, not a single damn given. She is going mad, Amelia decided, as that seems to the only logical explanation for the mess that is her mind.

“The lake! Look at the lake!” Lee Jordan screamed. From their position, they had a clear view of the lake. The normally calm lake was not calm at all. Bubbles were forming on the surface of the lake and then, as waves were crashing against the banks, a long black pole started to rise out of the water. Followed by a mast, sails and shortly after a whole ship appeared on the lake.

People started disembarking and slowly headed up the stairs to the courtyard led by a man with dark hair and a goatee with strands of grey hair through it. They arrived dressed more appropriately, they were wearing all kinds of different furs and long cloaks.

“Dumbledore!” the leading man exclaimed as they made it to the top, “My dear fellow, how are you?”

“Excellent, thank you, Professor Karkaroff,” Dumbledore replied.

Karkaroff looked around the courtyard and up at the castle towering over them, “Good old Hogwarts,” he mumbled, “Good to be back, Dumbledore, how good. Viktor come into the warmth,” he beckoned one of his students.

Another wave of silence washed over the shivering students outside as the boy stepped into the light.

“IT’S KRUM!” several people exclaimed half-whispering half-screaming.

The students slowly poured back into the castle and made their way towards the Great Hall. Everyone was rather glad to be back in the warmth. Krum made quite the entrance while doing nothing at all. Boys were talking about his Quidditch skills while the girls just swooned over him, engaging in heated debate if anyone of them has a quill on them to get something signed.

Amelia rolled her eyes. She saw him at the World Cup and honestly could not tell if he was any better Seeker than Harry or Draco for that matter.

Beauxbatons students have found their seats at the Ravenclaw table, looking around with glum expressions, almost scared to touch anything. People passing by eyed them up suspiciously. The Durmstrang students were standing by the doorway, looking around. Probably waiting to see which table will have the most free space. As they passed them, Draco disconnected from them and walked over to Krum.

“Oh no,” Daphne mouthed as she raised her eyes from the table, Amelia peaked at her before turning to see where she was staring, “No, no, no, don’t,” she reached and yanked her arm, but it was too late. Draco was leading the group of Durmstrang students towards their table with smug expression plastered all over his face. She noticed how Ron paled when they passed them on their way to Slytherin. Hermione, on the other hand, looked completely unimpressed.

They automatically scooted closer together to make space for the newcomers. But Draco grabbed Amelia’s shoulder and stopped her, “This is my seat,” he growled. She looked at him and then noticed Adrian, who was side-eyeing Draco probably figuring out the most painful curse he could send his way. Amelia rolled her eyes and ignored Daphne’s amused stare burning into the side of her face.

Everyone was finally seated and that included the teachers and staff as well, together with Dumbledore, Madame Maxine and Karkaroff.

“Good evening,” Dumbledore spoke as he remained the last one standing up, beaming at the full hall, “It is my pleasure to welcome you all to Hogwarts! I trust that your stay will be both enjoyable and comfortable,” handful of Beauxbatons scoffed slightly and muttered something under their breaths, “The tournament will be officially opened after the feast,” Dumbledore continued, “Now I invite you to eat, drink and make yourselves at home!”

The plates in front of them filled with food, as usual, there seemed to be more variety than on a normal night.

“I am Dimo,” the Durmstrang boy next to her extended his arm towards her.

“Amelia,” she muttered as she put down her cup and shook his hand. He smiled at her as he kissed the top of her hand. Amelia’s cheeks flushed red and Dimo started randomly introducing the rest of the Durmstrang group casually throughout the conversation.

“Kill me now,” Draco muttered under his nose as he shifted uncomfortably, kicking Daphne’s shin as she just barely was holding in laughter.

Over at the Gryffindor, Ron could not peel his eyes off of the Slytherin table, “Can you believe that?” he muttered. Harry with Hermione glanced at him uninterested in whatever complaints he was about to raise, “Why is it always Slytherin? Well… Malfoy,” he moaned as he helped himself to another serving of pudding.

Harry looked over his shoulder, only to see the whole group around Malfoy in lively conversation with the Durmstrang students. Harry knew Ron was most bothered by Krum seemingly getting along with them, but his attention was focused on Amelia who was sitting between Malfoy and some Durmstrang boy. He noticed Malfoy perched on the bench, looking rather uncomfortable, watching Amelia and whoever was talking to her at that moment.

Once the plates disappeared from the tables, Dumbledore stood up again.

“The moment has come,” he spoke out, “The Triwizard Tournament is about to start. I would like to say a few words of explanation beforehand, just to clarify the procedure that we will be following this year. Firstly, allow me to introduce Mr Bartemius Crouch, Head of the Department of International Cooperation,” Dumbledore extended his arm towards a short wizard in a bowler hat with a toothbrush moustache. Amelia sighed as she recognized the Ministry official from the World Cup.

Draco leaned to her ear, even closer than he did outside, as he whispered into her ear something about Crouch and his father, but she could barely concentrate on his words. His warm breath this close to her neck was quite distracting, even more so as his hand gripped the bench right behind her back.

_Get it together!_

She just nodded, pretending to be listening to Dumbledore as she tried to appear okay despite her heart beating out of her chest.

“Breathe, Wood,” she could feel him smirk as he leaned away again. Amelia glared at him; he fully knew what he was doing. He was toying with her and enjoying it.

“As you know, three champions compete in the tournament,” Dumbledore went on calmly, “One from each of the participating schools. They will be marked on how well they perform each of the Tournament tasks and the champion with the highest total after task three will win the Triwizard Cup. The champions will be chosen by an impartial selector: the Goblet of Fire. Anybody wishing to submit themselves as champion must write their name and school clearly upon a slip of parchment and drop it into the goblet,” said Dumbledore.

Fred and George were on the edge of their seat, ever since it was announced they could barely talk about anything else. The idea of the tournament had them forget about no Quidditch in no time.

“Aspiring champions have twenty-four hours in which to put their names forward. Tomorrow night, Halloween, the goblet will return the names of the three it has judged most worthy to represent their schools. The goblet will be placed in the entrance hall tonight, where it will be freely accessible to all those wishing to compete. To ensure that no underage student yields to temptation,” said Dumbledore, “I will be drawing an Age Line around the Goblet of Fire once it has been placed in the entrance hall. After extensive discussion we agreed that the age limit should be higher, therefore, nobody under the age of seventeen will be able to cross this line.”

Fred and George’s face became elongated in shock and shortly after with anger. Ginny and Lee covered both of their mouths before they could scream something at Dumbledore.

“Finally, I wish to warn any of you wishing to compete that this tournament is not to be entered into lightly. Once a champion has been selected by the Goblet of Fire, he or she is obliged to see the tournament through to the end. The placing of your name in the goblet constitutes a binding, magical contract. There can be no change of heart once you have become a champion. Please be very sure, therefore, that you are wholeheartedly prepared to play before you drop your name into the goblet. Now, I think it is time for bed. Good night to you all.”

Harry threw one of his legs over the bench as he waited for the corridor to empty a little. He took the opportunity to watch the Slytherin table for a bit. They were all standing in the corridor talking. Krum was just introducing himself to Amelia. Harry recalled he was sitting way too far from her during the feast. Draco hovered around Amelia like a guard dog.

“Do you think she would get me his autograph?” Ron chimed in as he noticed where Harry was looking.

Draco leaned to Amelia saying something. Even across the hall, Harry noticed her dramatic eye roll. She left without a word to Draco or anyone else. Harry shook his head, “Doubt it.”

“Morning,” Fred drawl as he sat next to Amelia during breakfast, earning few glares from other Slytherins.

“Good morning,” Amelia glanced at him, she found his tone suspicious. It never meant anything good. Fred just leaned back against the table, almost purposely annoying every Slytherin nearby and enjoying it, “Can I help you or is this some sort of pain kink?” she asked Fred as Blaise almost growled.

“What are your plans for today?” he asked casually, ignoring Blaise’s animalistic noises coming from behind his back.

 _He has a death wish_ , Amelia decided. Tearing her eyes from Fred she quickly glared at Blaise.

Amelia cocked her brow at Fred, “Deep down I hope that my potential answer of _nothing, just reading for fun_ would deter you from whatever you have in mind.”

Fred flashed a smile and Amelia slowly said bye to calm Saturday with a book by the common room fireplace.

“Spill it,” Amelia chuckled but got interrupted by a scoff from Draco, who just arrived and slid on the bench on her other side. Amelia’s breath got stuck somewhere halfway in her throat as Draco’s hand ran down her back as he sat down.

“There’s no space for blood traitors here, Weasley,” he said through gritted teeth not even looking at Fred. Amelia elbowed him rather harshly, making him wince. Draco glared at her as he sucked in air, rubbing his ribs sheepishly.

“Be under the Clock Tower, usual time,” Fred said eventually, “I always told Harry you can take care of yourself, not sure why he does not believe me. Malfoy, you are messing with the wrong one.” Fred got up and smirked at Draco, who just rolled his eyes at the ginger boy still massaging his ribs.

“What was that for?” he complained to Amelia in a hushed voice.

“For being a git,” she shrugged, “Quite tired of your classist bullshit.” Draco scoffed, muttering something under his breath. Amelia smirked; she was quite pleased with herself. At the beginning of the term, she promised herself to stand up to Draco when it came to her friends or herself and despite her never-ending coyness, she was keeping her word.

Dimo who witnessed the whole thing leaned slightly over the table, “What is a blood traitor?” Draco widened his eyes at him, his image of Durmstrang slowly crumbling. He hoped that Durmstrang students would hold the same values as him or at least having hate towards muggle-borns, half-bloods and blood traitors as a personality trait.

Amelia sneered at his honest shock, “It is a pureblood wizard who is friendly towards those from muggle or half-muggle families.” She explained, but Dimo’s confusion stayed.

“Are you a blood traitor?” he asked, desperately trying to make a sense of it all.

“No, I’m something worse,” she smiled at him. Dimo’s eyes were travelling from Amelia to Draco, back to Amelia and again to Draco, “I’m half-blood, my dad is a muggle.” Amelia shrugged.

Dimo nodded, “I see. Honestly, I do not understand the point. You still have magic, why make any differences?” Draco’s ideals have shattered. Amelia could not help herself but laugh at the dumbfounded expression that found its home on Draco’s face.

“Still think your father would send you there?” Amelia prodded Draco as she tried to compose herself.

Draco dropped the toast and got up angrily, “I’m not hungry anymore.”

Amelia watched him leave with tears in her eyes from laughter, “Did I say something wrong?” Dimo asked carefully as Draco turned the corner.

“No, not at all. He’s just a git,” Amelia shook her head, “Thanks for saying that, though.”


End file.
